Hi!
I’m a first-year game development student working on an Unreal Engine 5.6 project, and I’m trying to create a stylized portal shader inspired by Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart .
My goal is to achieve:
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a glowing outer ring,
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animated radial lines/filaments,
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a deep inner portal/tunnel look,
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subtle movement so it doesn’t feel like a static texture,
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a result that still looks good from the side, not only from the front.
I already have a basic material and mesh setup. The portal is made with separate elements for the ring and the inner center/tunnel, but I’m struggling to make it feel deep, dynamic, and close to the reference .
Here are my current screenshots:
And here is the kind of reference/look I’m trying to approach:
I would really appreciate some guidance on the shader/material setup.
More specifically, I’m wondering:
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Should the depth effect be done mostly with the material, the mesh shape, or both?
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What kind of nodes/techniques should I focus on for the animated filaments?
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Would polar coordinates, noise, panning textures, Fresnel, depth fade, or emissive masks be useful here?
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How would you structure the material to separate the outer glow, the radial lines, and the inner tunnel effect?
I’m not asking someone to make the whole shader for me, but I’d really like to understand the right direction and techniques to use.
Thanks a lot!